


The Ship's Cats

by Knightess



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Cats, Fluff, Gen, Just Add Kittens, New York, The Morrigan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3238616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightess/pseuds/Knightess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shay finds an unexpected family of lodgers when he returns to Fort Arsenal. Gist finds a good use for them. (Minific, for Elle.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ship's Cats

It had been a long voyage, and Fort Arsenal should have been deserted in Shay's absence. It should have been... but something was amiss. As soon as stepped onto the threshold, he could sense faint activity from the other side of the building, echoing through the halls. The muffled sound of what sounded like scratching on wood, and squeaking. Mice? Or worse, rats?

Quietly, he crept into his bedroom. No one there – but he heard a distinct mew from beneath his bed. He knelt and lifted the sheets to peer under, and sure enough, there was not one, but five sets of yellow eyes staring back at him, wide and bright in the dark of the room.

No mice, though. Just the opposite, in fact. There was an adult cat, a tortoiseshell, and a tiny group of kittens, cowering behind their mother for protection. Shay tried to coax them forward, hand outstretched, but it only frightened them further back until they were wedged up against the wall and one of the bedposts.

“Looks like I've had some lodgers while I was away,” Shay said to them, softly, and let the covers drop again. He went to the kitchen and returned with a saucer of milk, and for the mother, a small cut of dried meat, leaving both at the foot of the bed. Then, he backed into the armory, leaving the door open, and waited.

***

The booming voice of Gist announced his voice in the Arsenal. The _Morrigan_ was in good shape and ready to go, the British had won an important battle against the French – and what did Shay think he was doing?

The Assassin hunter was sprawled on a daybed, a cat perched at the end of it, and a group of clumsy kittens climbing all over him. Gist was, for a moment, speechless.

“I didn't know you had pets, Shay! Why didn't you tell me?”

Shay extracted a kitten from his stomach, then another playing with his ponytail, and sat up. “I don't. They invited themselves in.”

“Well, then, do you need any help getting rid of them?” The explorer crouched to give a black-and-white kitten a critical eye, and the mother tortoiseshell hissed at him, showing teeth.

Shay grinned. “Mum's decided they're staying, Gist.”

Gist seemed to consider this, then pushed back the brim of his hat to regard Shay. “When they're big enough, can I have this one?” He pointed to the kitten, which then tried to latch onto his hand to lick him. “Our ship would benefit from a cat, you know. Catching rats, lifting the spirits of the crew, all those manner of things.”

“We'll never be rid of them at this rate. But fine – a cat or two won't hurt.”

***

Weeks later, when Haytham boarded the _Morrigan_ , he demanded to know why the weather deck was overrun with an entire litter of kittens. Shay and Gist looked at each other, and shrugged. 


End file.
